Well, in order for those House members to feel threatened, their constituents would have to first a) feel the pain associated with the tax hikes, and more importantly b) snap out of their psychosis that everything bad that happens to them is all Obama's fault. I'm quite sure those House members would have no problem living with a) as long as they can successfully keep feeding b)'s gaping maw of ignorance, at which they've thus far been very, very successful ...

And unfortunately, I think the President's bully pulpit doesn't really get through much to the folks that elected the Loony Right fringe in the first place ...

"Well, I say that then we wait for the new Congress to come in on Thursday. We'll have better numbers, more members on our side," said Clyburn. "Then we offer a new bill that they will like even less. They didn't like the 450 (thousand dollar in household income) floor on the tax increase? Let's see how much they like it when we push it back down to 250 (thousand)!"

Yeah, just saw that tweet -- a lifeline to the Speaker? Would an up-or-down "yes" vote bolster the more "moderate" part of the majority, potentially saving Boehner's job? Would such a vote be enough to cow the TP faction and put Cantor back in his place? Would it also mean more behind-the-scenes cooperation between Pelosi and the Speaker?

And what about ... Naomi???

As depressing as all of this is, it's also really good political theater ;-)

On a broader note, as long as it's under Repugnican control, I suggest we refer to the lower chamber as the House of Reprehensitives. Members won't have to alter their title abbreviation, and — at least for a certain group — it's ever so much more descriptive than "Representative".

So if this bill passes, what leverage do the democrats have when it comes to the debt ceiling? The republicans will turn that little impending discussion into an all-out assault on spending, and the democrats will have nothing at all for defending domestic spending.

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